Pamela J, official photographer for Bouquets to Art and author/photographer of the book "Bouquets to Art"
PHOTO BY MARLA LEHR
Ran on: 03-18-2007
&quo;Lucretia,&quo; by Joos van Cleve (1525), inspired this floral fashion arrangement by Kelly Carr of Trillium Designs in San Francisco. less

Pamela J, official photographer for Bouquets to Art and author/photographer of the book "Bouquets to Art"
PHOTO BY MARLA LEHR
Ran on: 03-18-2007
&quo;Lucretia,&quo; by Joos van Cleve (1525), inspired this ... more

Photo: Marla Lehr

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BOUQUETS TO ART / Designers have fun with museum pieces for floral fundraiser

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Spring comes to San Francisco haltingly, with late March days as likely to be drizzly and damp as bright and aromatic. Residents have learned to welcome the season of rebirth by more predictable means than the city's famously unpredictable weather.

The "first rite of spring" for art lovers, says Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Director John E. Buchanan Jr., is the "Bouquets to Art" exhibition put on for a week each March by the museums' auxiliary. In its second year back at the renovated de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, "Bouquets to Art" (Tuesday-Saturday) will once again feature work by some of the foremost floral designers from the area and beyond.

Each designer interpreted a particular piece of art in the de Young. The flowery homages range from traditionally arranged bouquets to cantilevered flights of fancy. The artists' only limit is their imaginations, and a few rules to do with materials such as unfumigated wood that could be harmful to the art on display.

Floral designers such as Michael Daigian of Michael Daigian Design in San Francisco relish the freedom they are given at Bouquets to Art.

"It's not a competitive show," says Daigian, who has participated in the event every year since it began in 1984 at the de Young.

"A lot of other flower shows have themes to work to and awards at the end. But this one isn't a competition, so there are no rules about what you can or can't do. And it's a premier flower show. It has over 75 floral designers, by invitation, so it's the cream of the crop."

Bouquets to Art is the museums' top fundraising event, says Buchanan.

"It is a wonderful, wonderful way to reach the public," he says. "Our auxiliary does a wonderful job with a number of talented artists in the area."

According to auxiliary President Joan Roarke, 50,000 visitors attended last year's show, the first back at the de Young after nine years at the Legion of Honor.

"It started out 23 years ago as just the seed of an idea, and now it has grown into a big, big fundraiser," says Roarke. "It's absolutely spectacular because it's a pairing of art and flowers, and what could be better?

"This year, we'll have 150 floral arrangements. And we start out with the best party of the season," she adds, referring to Monday's Opening Night Gala from 6:30 to 10 p.m.

The week of "Bouquets to Art" features a host of activities beyond the show itself, beginning with the gala. There are lunches, lectures and workshops led by floral designers from Tuesday through Thursday. This year, for the first time, the designers will spend a few hours next to their exhibits on one of the event's five days, answering questions from the public. The museum hours have been extended from 6 to 8:45 p.m. Wednesday for Fine Arts Museums members and Friday for all.

Meanwhile, San Carlos photographer Pamela J's homage to the event, the book "Bouquets to Art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco" (Pamela J Photography, $49.95), will be on sale at the de Young. Pamela J, the official photographer for "Bouquets to Art," documents a decade of the show in the book.

Pamela J's photos have the distinction of being art about art about art -- and even further, about art, in the case of her interpretation of floral designer Wilson Murray's interpretation of Jose Roy's "Cafe des Incohérences" (1888), itself an interpretation of Montmartre cabaret billboards.

That might be enough to make even philosopher and consumer culture critic Theodore Adorno's head spin, but the book has no pretensions beyond capturing the fleeting beauty of artworks that will be disassembled just a few days after their creation.

"It's honoring the exhibit and honoring the designers and honoring the museum," says Pamela J of her book. "With flowers, you can't go back and look at the art without a book."

In her documentation of the most arresting images of years past, Pamela J gives equal time to both the untamed dreamers such as the whimsical Murray of Molecules in San Francisco and the more traditional masters of form and color such as Kiwi DeVoy of DeVoy Designs in Atherton.

Some designers, such as Jun Piñon of Piñon Design in San Francisco, take a decidedly simple approach to the event. His tall, elegant displays, often featuring lilies, have drawn praise in each of the three years Piñon has participated.

"I get a lot of compliments for the simplicity," says Piñon, who has also lectured and run workshops at past events. "You want to inspire people to do floral arrangements themselves, not just be overwhelmed by the art."

For freelance designer and City College of San Francisco instructor Jenny Tabarracci, "Bouquets to Art" is a chance to involve her students in the process.

"I normally take a group of students (to the selection day), and I pick the painting out, design the arrangement and let the students help me construct it and maintain it," she says.

Daigian is attracted to modern works, which he says give him more freedom to interpret. But despite the many approaches to the event, the participating artists look to each other for inspiration, he says.

"This is one of the few times we get to see what our fellow designers do."